This is a photo diary of my costuming "travels"; where I've learned and struggled to make historical costumes for myself. They're not always pretty, but always fun, most of the time. And I want to share with others what I learn along the way. **You can find me on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Time-Traveling-in-Costume-640703499399817/ or have my posts delivered to your email by signing up at the lower part of the right column.**

About Me

HI, my name is Val. I'm a member of Costumer's Guild West in Los Angeles, Dean Emeritus of 2018 Costume College; Past President of the San Diego Costume Guild, member of Orange County Costume Guild, and a representative of the San Diego History Center. I make my own historical costumes but don't sell any unless I get tired of one.The eras I've made so far are 1770 up to 1918. My favorite is the 1880s bustle.

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Monday, July 11, 2016

After
attending a lecture on the Frederick Worth dresses last year at Costume
College, I wanted to try making my own for the next year. The ideas I came away
from it was Worth made really eye-catching and detailed gowns, paid attention
to detail, and quality of workmanship. Ok, two out of three will happen. Just
gotta get ‘er done.

While I was out
shopping for fabric in the L.A. Garment District the day after Costume College
last year, my friend Kristen and I came across a newly opened fabric shop that
was primarily curtain and upholstery fabric but the rainbow of them on the wall
blew our eyeballs out. And they had Grand Opening prices, like $2.99 a yard.
Not silk, mind you. We knew they were polyester but still colors and patterns
you wouldn’t normally see. This one really caught my eye; it was a plum color in faux dupioni with lots of floral embroidery on it. The flowers even had little tuffs on
them. It looked very Chinese. I knew right away this could be my Worth tea gown
that I’d saved a photo from.

Having no
idea how much of it I would need, I bought 10 yards. I also begged him to put
the roll in the back of the room for the rest of the day in hopes none of the
other Costume College shoppers would see it. LOL!! Sorry about that, ladies.

My base for
the tea gown would be Truly Victorian #432, which ended up taking 7 yards.

This was a
fairly easy pattern to sew but the Watteau pleats on the back confused me a few
times. Once I figured out I was pleating it inside out, and turned it right
side out to pleat it, the pleats went the right direction. With the looseness
at the waist in the back, I sewed a stay-belt inside on the back seams to pull
it tight in front.

I tried
these directions from another pattern, making an insert down the front to look
like my Worth photo.

I thought
maybe a shirred chiffon down the front would be pretty but I wanted to make it
an overlay, not really part of the front closure. I even tried using the
instructions from Patterns of History. I did two rows of very tight pleating at
the bodice but the rest was just hanging loose. It started to look more like
1960s lingerie, and working with the chiffon was horrid. It was not the right
choice of fabric to use. So off it went!

I was
leaving the buttons and buttonholes for last since they go alllll the way down
the front but finally had to do them. Marking them two inches apart, I ended up
making 19 buttonholes after thinking I only did 18. Oops. Finding the buttons
in a short period of time was going to be harder. Both fabric stores by me had
8 of each kind at best. I found some on Etsy in wood, and considered that but
then saw some metal filigree ones that I thought would look nice. I remembered
a bag of metal buttons in my stash that I’d bought about 8 years ago at a
Renaissance Fair, and the Button Gods didn’t fail me. I had 30, although in two
different styles. I was able to use 14 of one, and the rest of the other at the
bottom. They’re vaguely similar, and being that far down, I don’t think anyone
would notice. Bam! Done!

So
now the fun part of trimming it out, or “decorating the cake”. The fabric
itself shows really beautiful but I wanted to soften it a bit too. I saw this lace collar and cuffs on someone’s
gown, so I dug through my lace stash. I found the one I was looking for but in
it’s old life it was actually part of a blouse. I didn’t like the separation on
the shoulders instead of being one solid collar.

So I went
back to digging in the stash. I found a good size roll of a white lace that I’d
used years ago while making lace caps and pleated that around the inside of my
collar and cuffs. And the beauty of this is, the lace cap I’ve decided to wear
has that same lace on it. Serendipity. I only have one row of lace on the cuffs
in this photo. I later tried a second row above it but didn't like it. At least its still froofy and softer looking.

My
other addition is a pocket, like these other 1870s tea gowns.

I
cropped a pocket from one photo and blew it up for my pattern, then hand
stitched it to my gown, just slightly to the back.

I added some
lace just inside it. Now it needed a silly contrasting bow on it. Out of my
stash, I found some burnt orange taffeta for that, and added another of the
metal buttons to it. Later I will tuck a fan and a handkerchief in the pocket
to show what it’s used for.

I’ve
gathered my accessories, one being the lace cap I had, and found some oxblood
“suede-like” flats at Target that turned out to be the same color as the fabric
of my gown. That was a surprise when I really wanted black but they were all
sold out. I also plan on wearing an antique white petticoat so it will peek out
at the bottom of my gown where I’m leaving it open.

Just a few
days ago I finally finished it completely, and took a quickie photo of me in
it, sans wig and accessories, just so I could be sure it fit. I’m satisfied
with it, although I will be moving slowly so as not to break out in a sweat. It
would be perfect for a cold Winter morning but in a hotel with thousands of
costumed ladies, I’m going to melt. I will have that fan and hankie at the ready.

My
Supervisor has been making sure I’m staying on track, and I’m now sewing the
lace strips on to my 1908 blouse waist for my other outfit that I finished after two years. But I finally caved in
to my Inner Squirrel and pulled a couple fabrics out of the stash for my next
project(s). Just couldn’t resist. I’m thinking a couple sheer dresses.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Over the weekend I hosted another sewing workshop in my home
with Shelley Peters’ Historical Sewing Workshops. Since I was already ahead on
some of my sewing for Costume College, I decided to take the opportunity to
make a new corset since my previous one from three years ago had gotten paint
splattered on it while I doing my face-painting for Dia de los Muertos, which
wouldn’t wash out, and also had some holes in it where I had replaced a busk.
And I must have very dirty hands when I put it on because it was pretty dirty
along the front.

The last time I saw Shelley’s coutil brocades for the corsets, I’d
seen a white with lavender flowers on it and decided I didn’t want pure white
this time. And she had a lavender cotton twill to line it with.

The pattern we’d used in 2013 was Truly Victorian #110 for
late 1880, which is primarily the decade I like to dress. I’m not one of those
who makes a different corset for the different decades, unless it's really
different, like Regency, or the longer Edwardians. So this gets me through
1830s up to about 1905. Where it becomes telling is when the skirt is really
flat and tight fitting and the fluff comes out the bottom of my corset. There’s
no fuller skirts to conceal that so you need to take that into account how you
make that skirt fit.

My corsets prior to this were made from Laughing Moon but
after making my first TV one, Shelley said it fit my body better, and gave me
better “hip spring”. I’m assuming that means a better shaped hip line and nice
curvy hips.

*I wanted to add this quote from Jennifer of Sewing Historical, who said, "The Laughing Moon 100 runs big as you get into the larger sizes. The TV pattern doesn't, and you cut each panel according to your measurements." *

We used the same pattern pieces from my first time using the TV pattern, but took in a
few “darts” to better flatten the bottom of the front, which tended to dome on
me, and also a bit in the bust area. I tended to slip down inside mine, and she
suggested using the little “bust improvers” that you can set down inside the
bust cups for the girls to rest on and keep them up. Put on your chemise and corset, and then tuck them down inside and under the girls. Cha Ching!
These are the "bust improvers/cookies/cutlets" made of a white foam with a thicker section at the bottom. They can be purchased at fabric/hobby stores in the accessories sections. Shelley had her's attached by a bit of a ribbon across the middle.

The workshops normally run for two days, starting about 9 or
10am, and finish each day sometime around 6 or 7pm. Since I was using my
previous pattern which we’d already fitted on me, I didn’t have to make a
muslin. I didn’t have constant supervision while I was sewing, and of course
sewed one panel upside down, and put half of my busk in backwards. This isn’t
the busk I used but can you see the little knobs are closer to one side than
the other? The wider portion, not the narrow one, should be put up against the
outside seam. I did mine with the narrow portion and so it didn’t close very
well. So out it came! Yes, my seam ripper as usual got a good workout.

Some corset patterns are made so you sew all the coutil pieces
together, then all the outside fabric, and then you sandwich them together,
adding boning channels to it. The TV pattern has you sew each pattern piece of
coutil and fabric together, then the next two to that one, and then next, and
so on. To keep myself from being confused which pattern piece went next I would
write on the backside which pattern # it was (1-6). It also helps showing you
which is the top and the bottom. Of course I still can’t figure out how I sewed
one panel upside down. They look really similar so it’s not hard, so that’s my
excuse.

When it’s finally all pieced, you sew your channels down it
with your sewing machine. No boning tape is used. It cuts down on bulk and
cost, but then that’s not much. Shelley reminded me to do very small stitches
when I did a running stitch along the bottom of each half of the corset so it
enforced the channel the bones would go in and not poke through. I noticed I
had forgotten to do that on my previous one, and they WERE poking through. I
also learned I was using bones that were about a half inch too long and were
set solidly in my channels right up to the tops and bottoms of them, so there
was no room for movement. Thus, they were being forced out of the coutil.

By the end of the second day of sewing, with a really stiff
back I might add, I had completed all the sewing except the binding on the
bottom after I put the bones in. I was able to finish that the next evening.
And voila! A new corset in two days.